


It must be magic

by rubberglue



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-30
Updated: 2012-10-30
Packaged: 2017-11-17 09:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/549973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rubberglue/pseuds/rubberglue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern AU. The story of Gwen and Merlin meeting. Shameless fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It must be magic

She is at a talk by a guest lecturer when she first notices him and the only reason she notices him is that she never noticed him before. As director of activities in the student union, Gwen makes the effort to get to know all the students in her department so it unnerves her to discover there is someone she missed. From a distance, she studies him. He slouches in a corner seat, earphones in his ears and completely immersed in his book, seemingly oblivious to the chatter around him. Quite a feat considering Gwaine and his buddies are sitting just one row behind and horsing around as usual. 

A commotion jolts her from her thoughts and she sees Hengist laughing at George with what looks like George’s iPhone in his hand. She rolls her eyes. Hengist is a bully and it looks like George is his latest target. Just as she’s about to move over to yell at Hengist, the new student is already on his feet and George’s iPhone is now returned to him. She’s impressed. He managed it with little fuss. Gwen decides she needs to get to know him better.

Before she can go up to him and find out how she managed to never see him before in school, Dr Alsagoff enters the auditorium and the lecture starts. Gwen finds herself spending half the time trying to follow the lecturer and the other half the time darting glances at him. He smiles as he listens to the lecture. She likes his smile. She finds that she also like his long fingers and the way they keep playing with his book. As she stares at him, she supposes that he is quite cute which makes her wonder how she never noticed him before. Much to her disappointment, once the lecture ends, he is gone despite her attempts to keep an eye on him. It is also like magic the way he’s there one moment, then gone the next.

She asks Gwaine but not surprisingly, he did not notice the new guy.

“The only person you notice is yourself,” she sighs as she shakes her head.

“That and pretty women like you.” That earns him a rough shove and a muttered curse.

Percy, Elyan and Leon all claim they didn’t notice any skinny, slouching, music-listening student in front of them which makes Gwen wonder if she was imagining the whole thing. 

She spots him again the next day in the library. She’s trying desperately to catch up on her readings when she swears he walks past her. But when she leaves her chair and practically jogs to where she thinks he is, he’s not there. Elena, who is standing in the shelves staring at the books, shakes her head in confusion when Gwen asks her. Frowning, she returns to her seat and spends the rest of the afternoon trying (and failing miserably) to stop thinking of him. For all she knows, she might have conjured him up in her mind, perhaps as a way of dealing with that terrible break up with he-who-she-will-not-name.

It is slightly annoying when she finds herself looking for his face whenever she’s in school. When she dreams of him smiling at her one night, she tells herself she needs to go on a date. Maybe she’ll finally accept Gwaine’s constant offers.

Her roommate Mithian has an emergency (code for not completing her tutorial assignment) and Gwen is covering for her at the coffee shop. She is taking orders from a particularly difficult customer when he enters the coffee shop. The complicated order completely disappears from her head as their eyes meet. 

“Miss!” Rudely, the customer snaps his fingers in front of her face. “Were you listening to me?”

Normally she would have snapped at the customer and pointed out the rules of the coffee shop, especially the one about not being rude to the wait staff but she’s trying to keep her eye on that mysterious man so she murmurs an apology and shoves a confused George in front of the till before darting off to where he is standing in line.

She reaches out an arm to touch him when he doesn’t respond to her breathy hello. Something surges through her when her hand makes contact with his skin and she jumps back. He does the same and once again, their eyes meet.

“I thought you were behind the counter,” he says as he pulls the earphones out of his ears. Then he smiles, the same one she realises she’s been thinking about since the lecture, and stretches out his hand. “I’m Merlin.”

“I’m -”

“Gwen.” His smile grows bigger and more attractive. “I looked you up.”

She knows she’s blushing and she’s hoping he looked her up because he thought she was interesting and not because he thought she was stalking him. “I see.” His hand is still wrapped around hers, far too long for it to be appropriate, but he doesn’t seem to notice and she doesn’t mind really. 

“Oy!” Someone behind shouts. “Move it!”

Merlin looks at her then steps out of the line. “I didn’t really want a coffee anyway,” he shrugs. Then, as if realising their hands were still entwined, he drops hers. “Sorry.” His ears are red, something Gwen decides is adorable as well, and his eyes dart around the shop. 

When someone bumps into them and grumbles, she ushers him to a corner - as always the shop is completely full of students - where they stand awkwardly for a second. 

“My name is really Guinevere,” she blurts, unable to stand the silence. “But most people call me Gwen. Which you know already.” She wonders if he can hear her heart pounding. What is wrong with her? She’s never like this. Not usually, but standing in front of him, his soft eyes looking at her with amusement, she finds herself spouting inanity. 

“And most people call me Merlin.” 

“Why were you in line if you didn’t want coffee?”

“Umm, to be honest, I was hoping to meet you. I saw you at Dr Alsagoff’s lecture and then at the student office and I thought, well, you seemed nice.”

“How did you know I would be here? It’s not my usual shift.” She frowns at herself. Interrogating men she is interested in is usually not considered the best idea.

His lips quirk into a slight smile. “Magic.”

“And is that how you disappeared after the lecture?”

This time his eyebrows raise. “You noticed me?”

“No! Well, yes but -”

His hand touches her arm gently and again she feels the shimmer of electricity shoot through her. There is certainly magic somewhere. “I’m flattered,” he says. 

“Oh.” He needs to stop gazing at her so her brain can work and she can be the witty, sociable girl she really is. “So now we’ve met.”

He smiles again. “We have indeed. Maybe we can meet again? I could show you more magic.” He bursts into laughter immediately. “I can’t believe I said that.”

“I think you’re quite magical.” Inwardly she groans as her face burns up. 

“Lunch on Saturday?”

She is certain everyone in the shop can hear her heart and all she manages is to nod her head. His laugh sends warmth flooding her and she knows she’s in trouble. Saturday. Lunch at the Student Union Building. As he leaves, she watches him, quite conscious of the fact that she is smiling.

_A few months later_

Merlin already has her morning coffee ready when she emerges from the bathroom. Living alone has its advantages and one of them is that Merlin can stay over whenever he wants. It pleases her that he often does. 

Cradling the warm mug in her hands, she listens as Merlin tells her about his plans for the day. Admittedly, half of her mind is on how delicious he looks, hair all mussed up, slight shadow on his chin and comfortably casual in one of his old t-shirts.

“Are you even listening to me?” He asks, amusement in his voice as he reaches over to kiss her forehead.

“Mmm. I was wondering just how you always make me feel so good.”

“Haven’t we already established that I’m magical?” 

As he leans over more to kiss her fully on her mouth, Gwen silently agrees. He is indeed magical.


End file.
